Category: The South

“Blood is thicker than water,” was one of my maternal grandmother’s favorite sayings. Family was everything to her. She was extremely proud of her Southern and Irish roots, and often shared tales—possibly apocryphal—of the family history. We are blessed to have many heirlooms and photographs that breathed life into her tales of those long-ago family members. I never knew my great-grandmother, but I was brought up on stories about her beauty and grace. I loved to admire her portrait, and to play under the intricately carved table that had come down to my grandmother through her, part of a set that’s been in the family longer than anyone can remember.
I internalized the stories and the reverence for the past and felt its influence on the present. And when I grew up I became interested in my father’s side of the family as well, and conducted lazy internet genealogy research to learn more. I’ve built a family tree that goes back many generations on both sides, and have learned that my roots are not only Irish but English, Dutch, and German as well.
Family heritage encompasses many things. Families pass down language–my Alabama roots are four generations back now but in my family we still use some expressions that are not native to East Tennessee. Families pass down heirlooms like the table and chairs I mentioned, the prie-dieu on which my great-grandparents knelt to be married, the silver coffee and tea service. Families pass down genetic material, as I think you can see in the comparison pictures of my youngest child and her great-great-great-great grandmother below. And families pass down religion.Read the rest at Everyday Ediths.

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I was eight years old, curled up on the naugahyde sofa in my grandmother’s basement, when I found my great-grandmother’s copy of Gone with the Wind, the commemorative movie edition. I read it literally to pieces and I can recite the entire first paragraph by heart.
In grade school I was taught that the Civil War, to my surprise at the time, was NOT inspired primarily by the desire to continue to enslave African-Americans, but by an argument over States’ Rights.
My great-great-great-grandfather was a Confederate brigadier general, and I was raised on family legends of his valor.My ggggrandfather Confederate General James D. Hagan, who was born in Ireland.
Up until my house burned down, I owned a small Confederate battle flag, which at one time I displayed along with the flags of the United States, Scotland, and Ireland, a small tribute to my ethnic heritage as I understood it at the time.
This is where I come from. I am proud to be a Southerner. In my blog bio, I describe myself first of all as “Catholic and Southern.” That’s at the core of who I am.
Like many Southerners, particularly those with ancestors who served in the Confederate army, I feel an attachment to statues like the one in Charlottesville. But the character of those who rallied on Saturday in protest prove that its removal is necessary. This confederacy of dunces would have been denounced by General Lee, who was not even in favor of secession, and by James Hagan, who was repatriated and worked for the U.S. government for the fifteen years prior to his death.My oldest child, Emily, at the grave of her great-great-great-great-grandfather, General James D. Hagan

As his descendant, I disavow and repudiate the Unite the Right protesters and anyone who shares their hateful beliefs in the strongest of terms, and I call upon all descendants of Confederate soldiers to join me in condemning them. They don’t represent the South and we don’t need these modern-day Carpetbaggers to tell us how best to preserve our heritage.
We do no honor to the memory of the Confederate dead by supporting disgusting displays of racism. I do not judge my ancestors as harshly as some might– they were the product of a different time. But that time is long past. If you feel that Robert E. Lee deserves to be honored and remembered for valiantly fighting for what he believed in–his home state of Virginia–then do what he asked after the fighting ended: “Remember, we are all one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and bring [your children] up to be Americans.”

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We didn’t go anywhere for Spring Break this year, except to the zoo. Today’s planned trip to Dollywood was canceled due to illness. So I got to feeling nostalgic about last year’s Spring Break trip, which I had never gotten around to sharing here.
Because I’ve waited a year to write about this, the details of the trip are less than clear. So I’m going to dump a LOT of pictures here, with less explanation than usual. But let me start by saying that if you live in Knoxville, and you’ve never taken a trip to Chattanooga, you are missing out. If you live farther away, it’s still worth the drive. We only did about half of what we wanted to do last year–the children’s museum, the nature center, the art museum, and more all await another visit.
So one year ago yesterday we packed up and drove 90 miles to Chattanooga, where our accommodations were cheap and convenient and that’s the best that could be said about them.
Clearly, Echo was not in favor of our leaving!
Tickets to local attractions are available at reduced prices online, so we were ready to get started as soon as we arrived. We began at the bottom of Lookout Mountain and rode the Incline Railway to the top.
I’ve ridden this thing before, years and years ago, but the cars were more enclosed than they are now and the . . . STEEPNESS . . . did not register with me. It registered with poor William, though, and he was not a fan.
Once at the top, the first thing to do is marvel at the beautiful views, which are not in short supply on Lookout Mountain.
We also got a look at the machinery that runs the Incline Railway.
Our first stop was Battles for Chattanooga, right down the street. On our way we enjoyed the beautiful homes and gardens we passed. We browsed the gift shop which is replete with Civil War memorabilia while we waited for the show to start.
The show itself is a combination of film and one of those models of all the battlefields that lights up to illustrate the various campaigns. You may have seen something similar in Gettysburg or Atlanta if you’ve been there. This was the first time I’d been to this attraction, and it was very instructive and provided context for Point Park, our next stop.
History, rock formations, and views are plentiful in Point Park, which charges a small entry fee on the honor system. There’s a little self-guided museum, and miles of walking trails which I am hoping to return to explore one day. Seriously, it’s so beautiful and you could spend an entire day right here.
We had other places to go, though, so we rode the Incline back down (William had to be very brave!) and drove the car back up so we could SEE ROCK CITY, just like the barns say.
Rock City is an attraction that is hard to categorize. The brainchild of Mr. and Mrs. Carter above, what began as an extension of the garden around their home is now a network of trails, massive rock formation, nerve-wracking bridges, breathtaking views, and more.
Above you see a nice solid rock bridge and a swinging bridge. Can you guess which one I walked across?
I bet you guessed right! 🙂
Directly above you’ll see a shot of Lovers’ Leap (with the waterfall turned green in honor of Saint Patrick!) and then what Rock City is probably most famous for: the view of seven states which strikes me as totally possible on a clear day.
There are some rare white fallow deer housed at Rock City. I didn’t get a picture but you can see Lorelei and William looking at them below!
The white deer are part of the fairy tale motif for which Rock City is known. Gnomes are plentiful, and there’s a whole gallery of nursery rhyme scenes.
At the conclusion of our Rock City adventure, we found a family-friendly Asian restaurant nearby before retreating to our lodgings to rest up for the next day’s activities.
We started the second day of our trip with another iconic Chattanooga attraction: Ruby Falls.
All I can say is that it’s a good thing God chose Leo Lambert and not me to discover His handiwork and reveal it to the masses. The story of his harrowing crawl through the pitch-dark and tiny passageways is terrifying. Luckily we can experience the beauty of the caverns without doing that. I’m just sharing a few pictures because even with an iPhone (WAY better than the Kodak with flip-flash I had the first time I visited almost 40 years ago!) it’s just hard to capture good images in the low light.
With Ruby Falls behind us, we headed down Lookout Mountain and into downtown Chattanooga with the Tennessee Aquarium next on our agenda. They’d added a whole new building since our last visit. One building showcases freshwater and the other seawater creatures.
I’d give more info on these creatures if I could, but it’s been a year and my memory of what things are is hazy. William would be able to tell me if I asked him–it’s fun to hear him announce the names of obscure animals without reading the informational placards.
These guys I recognize and you will too. There are many of them in the bayou area and it was fun to watch them.
I love all the beautiful colors and patterns–living art.
Water creatures share the Aquarium with some other wild things. This was taken in the butterfly room, where if you are lucky you may find yourself a perch for several butterflies!
And while penguins seem a bit out of place to me I’m not going to complain because look how cute they are. We had a hard time dragging the kids away.
These guys though–they are creepy.
The other-worldly, ethereal beauty of jellyfish is always fascinating to me.
And there were more to come, as the Aquarium is currently hosting an art exhibit with jellyfish and art inspired by them.
I’m pretty sure my kids would name the Aquarium if you asked them which part of our visit to Chattanooga they enjoyed most.
We were there until closing time and then we hit downtown to search for a William-approved restaurant (Genghis Grill) before heading back to the motel. We squeezed a lot of fun into two days and I was just talking to John today about how much more there is to see and do in Chattanooga. We will be back!

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It’s New Years Day and y’all know what that means, right? Black-eyed peas and greens, at least for us Southerners.

As long as I can remember, my mother forced us to eat at least one bite of black-eyed peas each New Years Day, “For luck,” she said. Later I learned that greens are also required, if you want to make money in the new year. And who doesn’t want that, right?

Luckily in this house a majority (read: everyone but the little people) like either the peas, the greens, or both.
I’d never realized until this year that this tradition is strictly a Southern one. I looked up its origin this afternoon while I was cooking and learned that it started post-Civil War, when supposedly those affected by Sherman’s March to the Sea were left with precious little to eat except for the black-eyed peas which the Union soldiers (who called them “cow peas”) assumed were only good for fodder for the Southerners’ long-gone cattle. The erstwhile Confederates grew strong again on this minimalist yet healthy diet, and the foods eventually morphed from a generic “new beginnings” meal to one symbolizing future luck and prosperity.

As I perhaps have mentioned, I am an English major so I found additional meaning in today’s meal.
Just look at these collard greens, y’all.

I don’t know if you can tell but that’s a LOT of greens. (And for only .99 at Kroger, too!) It’s three enormous bunches which were too big for the plastic produce bag and took up the entire bottom shelf of my refrigerator. It probably took me an hour to wash and rip them up so I could cook them. The picture of them in the pan? That was less than half of them.

Yet after ten minutes cooking, we were left with this:

Yes, that’s what they boiled down to. So that’s the source of that saying! I thought, cleverly, to myself.

But I also really did think, and announce to my husband, that I am going to try to apply the lesson of the greens to any situations (I won’t say problems yet) that arise this year. Whatever big tangled things I have to deal with, I’m going to envision them as a big mess of greens that haven’t been cooked yet. I’m going to know in advance that really there’s just a little kernel at the heart of whatever it is that I really have to deal with. Before I get all worked up and confused and overwhelmed, I’m going to think about what it all boils down to.

Happy 2014 to you!

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Whoa! Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? It’s hard to believe that something many people consider “bad grammar” has such a fancy name.
So what the hell am I talking about? From Wikipedia: “A modal verb (also modal, modal auxiliary verb, modal auxiliary) is a type of auxiliary verb that is used to indicate modality – that is, likelihood, ability, permission, and obligation. Examples include the English verbs can, must and should.”
So it follows that a double modal is using two of them at once–like a double negative, except they don’t cancel each other out (neither do double negatives, not really–English isn’t math, after all!).
When I studied double modals in linguistics classes there were several examples listed, but the only one I use or hear used is “might could.” Example: “Mommy, can we go to the store?” “Well, we might could go later.” Here’s another: “Can you tell me how to get to the interstate?” “You can take Dutchtown Road, or you might could take Bob Gray.”
It’s hard for me to explain why Southerners say this or exactly what it means. It’s been suggested that it arises from our innate politeness, especially in the second example where we wouldn’t want to TELL a stranger what to do, but would rather offer a gentle suggestion.
Another thing, unlike “Y’all,” which as I explained in an earlier post is considered a high prestige usage and is quickly picked up by immigrants to the South, the use of double modals is viewed unfavorably and is rarely assimilated. Speakers seem themselves to sense this–analysts have had a difficult time getting examples when people knew they were being recorded, and would often not hear double modals until they pretended the interview was over and asked for directions to their next stop! It’s not something that I would typically use in writing, not even in something informal like a letter or a status update, whereas I use y’all in that context all the time. It’s not something I’d say in a job interview either.
And although I know when to say it–I wouldn’t even have to think twice about it–all I can tell you is that there is a subtle difference in meaning between double modals and single modals. In the first example, it’s somewhat more than might and less than could. If any of my Southern readers think you might could explain it better, have at it in the comments!

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No snarky comments about the title, please! If you aren’t a lover of language and words like I am, you might not realize that all dialects have their own internal grammar and operate according to rules. And I’m going to write from time to time about the rules of the dialect I know best: Southern American English, or SAE.
Today let’s talk about y’all.
Y’all (short for you all) is a beloved Southernism–a “high prestige” word that even Yankee immigrants are quick to adopt, unlike other usages which I will discuss another time. There’s a good reason for this–it’s not just useful, it’s necessary.
Unlike many other languages, English lacks a second person plural (although earlier forms of the language had one). “You” serves for one person or many. Such simplification of forms is a regular occurrence in languages over time, but if you ask me this was a stupid one: we obviously need a plural for you, and all dialects of English do their best to supply one.
If you aren’t a Southerner, you may laugh at “y’all,” but you probably say “you guys” yourself. There are other regional variations–you’uns, youse, you people. What it comes down to is we NEED a plural form of you and y’all fills the bill nicely.
Now here is the rule that I want all non-speakers of SAE to hear and internalize: y’all is ONLY and ALWAYS plural. No Southerner EVER uses it to mean one person, as I have seen on more than one occasion in books written by Yankees attempting to infuse their work with local color. “Oh, y’all sure do know the way to a lady’s heart,” spoken by an eyelash-batting Southern belle to an admirer in a romance novel is just WRONG. I have had non-speakers attempt to convince me that I am mistaken, that they are SURE they have heard y’all used in this way. NO.
Now, y’all is occasionally used in a collective sense, where it is spoken to one person, but it is still a plural because that person is a representative of a group. For example, I might say to a store clerk: “Do y’all have any more Ugly Dolls in the back?” (I DID say that, yesterday. ) Or I might say to a friend, “Where are y’all going on vacation?” (Y’all means her whole family.)
Sometimes even y’all isn’t plural enough. So I might ask a group of friends, “Are all y’all coming with me?” It may sound crazy but if you think about the grammar it’s really no different than saying. “Are all of you coming?” or “Are all you guys coming?”
Finally, let’s discuss the possessive form. In books I always see “y’all’s” and I have heard people say that now and again. But far more prevalent here in East Tennessee is the form “your-all’s,” which caused my college roommate to fall off her bed laughing the first time she heard me say it.

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I feel pretty good when I read this list.~ A Grandparent’s Wisdom on Parenting ~

1. Let your child be a child. Children are not little adults.

2. Don’t have too many rules, especially when they’re little. They’re not going to remember them all anyway.

3. Pick your battles. It won’t work to make an issue out of everything your child does that you don’t like.

4. The greatest gift you can give your child besides your love is your time. Whenever possible, interrupt what you are doing to take time for them. Many things you need to do can be put off until later but many things your child does only happen once, and you don’t want to miss them.

5. Don’t micromanage your child’s behavior. It isn’t necessary (or productive in the long run) to try to control everything he or she says or does.

7. Kids get tired. When they do, it’s usually futile to try to reason with them to get them to do what you want.

8. Don’t say things to your own child that you would never dream of saying to someone else’s child.

9. Whatever stage your child is in, remember: this, too, shall pass, and they will move on to another stage. (This may be better or worse than the previous one!)

10. Don’t let mealtime become a battle zone. No child has ever starved to death yet because they didn’t eat everything on their plate.

11. Read to your child.

12. When your child starts talking, listen. What they say is important to them, and kids have great things to say.

13. Spend some time tucking your child into bed each night.

14. It’s good to find a church family to help you raise your child. You need others to support you. Your child needs to establish a good foundation of values and truth. If he or she doesn’t get this early in life, they might get it later and from someone else you may not like.

15. Take time every day to enjoy your child and relish this role God has blessed you with.

(Postscript: my dad says some of these are things he did, and some are things he wishes he’d done. ❤️) …

Timeline Photos"Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you." – Luke 14 #SundayGospel bit.ly/2ZpzEtS…

"Arsonists have set God’s Cathedral aflame. In the Amazon rainforest, home to hundreds of thousands of animal species, 40,000 plant species, and nearly a million indigenous people, fires are raging, destroying the ecological buttresses of one of the most biodiverse and important ecosystems in the world. These creatures are a testament to God’s good creation, a living, breathing cathedral, shaped by the evolutionary forces of God, and entrusted to human hands." …

"Baby loss is not just a story of grief, of pain and of tears, its a beautiful story of love and of celebration.

So let’s scream from the rooftops that all children matter, those that are here and those that we desperately miss."I haven’t shared this picture for quite some time so wanted to post it again this evening. These are my children…the ones that ran ahead and the ones who I get the honour to raise.

Someone said to me in an interview recently well you are the mother of two, I kindly corrected them. I am the mother of 7, just because five of my children didn’t get to grow up on the earth, doesn’t stop them from existing.

I also wanted to say this…Baby loss is not just a story of grief, of pain and of tears, its a beautiful story of love and of celebration.

So let’s scream from the rooftops that all children matter, those that are here and those that we desperately miss. ❤️

I am so unbelievably touched that SO many people have liked and shared this image, THANK You. Please feel free to also like my page and see future posts and quotes, I would love for you to become a FB friend x